Afflicted
by punkgothicjackal
Summary: Remus Lupin is doing his best to hide his dark secret from his friends... but he doesn't know how long he can keep it up.


A/N: We'll see what I've got here…

Afflicted

By: punkgothicjackal

(QUICK NOTE: THE T's ARE TO SEPARATE POV'S)

Chapter 1: The Sorting

An eleven year old Remus Lupin dreaded the upcoming school year, his first ever at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't that he was ungrateful, after all, he'd rather be at school than at home, and indeed a lot of strings had been pulled for him to be able to go. But Remus wasn't like the rest of the students who attended the school. He suffered from a rather painful affliction that caused him to lose himself at least once a month to something much stronger than any magic he was to learn.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

It was this that caused such anti-social tendencies in the young boy, not anything else. He knew if his fellow schoolmates found out he'd be ostracized and condemned. _Besides,_ he thought bitterly, _what parent in their right mind would want their child near a werewolf? I wouldn't._

He dragged his trunk through the portal and waved goodbye to his mother and sister halfheartedly. He felt a pang of loneliness as Cassie tried to follow him, but was held back by their mother as she cried freely. He would miss them both in the following year, but he had the holidays to look forward to. And they could always write.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Over here, mate!" Sirius called cheerfully, gesturing for James to meet up with him. The two had been best friends since the age of two, and inseparable during any moment Sirius could manage to sneak out of his house. They were always causing mischief of some sort. "This one's empty."

James Potter followed Sirius inside and put his trunk in the luggage rack, before picking a seat by the window and grinning widely. "What do you think it's going to be like?"

Sirius shrugged. "Same old, same old. Some old bat telling us to behave and not get into trouble, to study and mind our manners, blah, blah, blah."

James laughed. "Surely it won't be that bad."

Sirius stretched out across his section of seats. "I hope not, but you never know."

James looked back to the open door of their compartment and watched as a couple of girls passed, one in particular catching his eye. He grinned. "Wow, I could get used to this."

"Used to what?" Sirius yawned, his eyes closed.

"Didn't you see that girl?" He asked, not paying attention to his friend.

"Unless she happened to traipse into the backs of my eyelids, no."

James glared at him. "Never mind."

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Belle Sian lay on her stomach, watching Lily Evans as she continued talking about her summer. The two had been okay friends, but personality differences kept them from getting too close. For instance: Lily's being an optimistic social butterfly and Belle… well, she wasn't either.

"Uh huh." She said for what must have been the thousandth time in the last hour. Lily frowned at her.

"Were you even listening?"

"Not really, no." Belle replied honestly. To her surprise, Lily laughed.

"I should have guessed by the vacant stare. What's up? How was your summer?"

"Shitty." Belle replied with a grin. "Like always." Being of mixed blood, Belle found it extremely boring living with her muggle dad. Her parents had divorced when Belle was five, her mother running off to America, and her father stuck with a daughter he had never really wanted and didn't know what to do with.

Lily grinned back. If it hadn't been for Belle's living situation the two wouldn't be in the position they were in currently.

"Think there's any cute guys at this school?" Belle asked impishly, raising a brow.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Xaylia Capientur was staring absently at a speck in the seat upholstery, trying to cure the headache that was brought on by the brightly lit corridor. In truth, it wasn't that bright, but to Xye, it was blinding. She jumped when she heard the knock on compartment door, and closed her eyes, fighting back nausea. "Yes?" She sighed.

"Sorry to bother you miss… but there wasn't anywhere else…" A chubby, pink faced boy began.

"What is your name?" She interrupted, annoyed already.

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Fine, fine. Sit down." She waved him over to the seats opposite her.

"Thanks, miss…?"

"Just shut up."

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Remus climbed off the train in his new robes (well, they weren't really that new, they were secondhand) and joined the growing mob of students waiting for the short journey up to the castle.

"Firs' years!" The shout made him jump and look around curiously, until he spotted, standing over the students, a huge man with a wild beard. Slowly, he threaded himself through the crowd and over to the other first years. When the rest of the school had cleared out, and only a handful was left, the man smiled at them.

"Into the boats, now." He said, heading to the one in the lead and getting in. Remus found himself shoved into a boat with a boy with white-blonde hair, a rather sick looking girl, and a pudgy boy with watery eyes. The girl and the second boy seemed to know each other, and the other boy looked as if he didn't want to be seen near any of them.

_Great, _Remus thought. _Even among the outcasts I'm an outcast. _

Their ride to the castle was a silent one in Remus' boat. He could hear other students nearby conversing about what they thought were in store for them in order to get sorted, and Remus began to think about it as well. It couldn't be too difficult, he reasoned, since they didn't know how to perform magic. But what if it was? And what if you failed; you got kicked out of the school?

"Don't be ridiculous." He muttered.

TTTTTTTTTTTTT

Belle wasn't impressed with Hogwarts at all. She looked around bleakly at the entrance they were standing in, and wondered if this place was as grand as everyone said it was. With a sigh, she began to look at the people- they were certainly interesting.

Her interest was particularly snagged on two dark-haired boys who were whispering off to the side. She could tell the focus of their whispering was a greasy haired boy who was standing alone. With a devilish smile, she took her leave of Lily and skipped over to the two.

"Something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" She asked, scaring them both. She laughed at the expression on the taller one's face, it was rather comical.

"What's it to you?" One asked, frowning as he cleaned his glasses.

"Nothing really, just wondering." She shrugged. "Do you not like him or something?" She asked, gesturing to the object of their attention.

"Who are you?" The other one demanded, causing her to grin impishly.

"Belle Sian, at your service." She stated, sweeping a graceful bow.

TTTTTTT

Xye looked at the ceiling as they were led through the hall to the front, in front of the entire school. Her siblings had both told her what to expect, but the sight was still something that took her breath away. The vaulted ceiling held a myriad of the sky, with all it's clouds and twinkling stars, and over the teacher's table, the moon. Xye stared at the crescent orb, totally oblivious to the hat in front of her, which had began to speak.

It was only when the clapping stopped and names were starting to be called out that Xye snapped out of her daze.  
"So all we do is put that… thing on?" She whispered, looking at Peter. Neither Sae nor Jasson had told her how they were sorted, saying that was part of the excitement of coming to Hogwarts. Peter nodded.

TTTTTTTTTTT

"Black, Narcissa!"

Sirius growled as he watched his blonde cousin stroll casually up to the sorting hat. The hat had barely touched her head when she was proclaimed a Slytherin, thus continuing the Black family cycle. It was tradition for the Blacks to be in Slytherin, one that Sirius didn't want to continue. He couldn't stand having a five minute tea with Narcissa, he didn't want to share a house with her.

"Black, Sirius!"

"Good luck, mate." James grinned at him, and Sirius laughed. "I don't need luck."

_'Another Black, eh? You don't seem like the rest…' _Sirius rolled his eyes as the hat spoke in his ear.

_"No shit," _Sirius thought back.

_'No need to get testy,' _The hat replied. _'You've got the mean streak to fit in well in Slytherin, the bravo to be in Gryffindor, and the brains for Ravenclaw… this is indeed a hard choice…' _

_"Would you hurry up? I've got things to do."_

_'It would seem you have more bravado than wit, so it better be GRYFFINDOR!'_

Sirius looked back at James and grinned as he took the hat off. The Black family legacy was officially broken.

TTTTTTTTTTTTT

Belle watched as more students were sorted, thinking about which house she herself would like to be in. She clapped as Lily became a Gryffindor, and looked around at the other students. She saw a thin boy in secondhand robes shuffle nervously up to the stool. She tilted her head, observing him curiously. He seemed lonely… She couldn't remember him from earlier. Of course, he didn't look like someone you'd really notice at first. He wasn't drop dead hot like James or Sirius, but he certainly wasn't the ugliest boy here either. He just seemed out of place.

She looked around and elbowed the closest person to her, a chubby boy she remembered vaguely from earlier. "Who's he?"

"Remus Lupin," The boy stated, rubbing his side and giving her a dirty look. "Why?"

"None of your business." She replied casually, moving up to the front of the crowd.

TTTTTTTTTT

Xye watched the blonde hair boy from her new spot at the Ravenclaw table. She wasn't listening to her sister's congratulatory chatter, but was instead locked in a sort of staring match with this boy. Except it was a sickly wrong sort of contest, because his very glance made her insides freeze over, and made her want to get as far away as she could from him. He held her gaze as he was sorted into Slytherin, where it was only broken by a conversation with another Slytherin.

She shuddered, and excusing herself from dinner, went and waited in the hallway for the feast to be over.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Remus stared at the empty plates boredly as the sorting finished. He had found a spot at the end of the table that was void of any human lifeform, and had hoped it would stay that way. He was a little surprised when a dark haired girl flopped down across from him.

"Is this spot taken?" She asked, not giving him a chance to answer before she claimed it. "Remus Lupin, right?" She asked, tilting her head to watch him. "Belle Sian."

"Yeah…" He said, watching her oddly. He wasn't used to people throwing themselves into his company. What did she want, anyway?

"You looked lonely." She grinned, heaping her plate full of food as it appeared in front of them. "I thought you might enjoy some company."

"Actually, I was just fine…"

But she wasn't listening. She had gone off on some tangent about how schoolwork was really pointless, as she wouldn't use most of the things she was being taught after she graduated.

_'What have I gotten myself into?'_ Remus thought desperately.

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Leave a review!


End file.
